Fibrous and absorbent perspiration pads



March 5, 1957 F. T. CAMPAGNA ETAL 2,783,474

FIBROUS AND ABSORBENT PERSPIRATION PADS Filed June 22, 1954 INVENTOR fkarz/z 7} am '1 m FIBROUS AND ABSQRBENT PERSPIRATION PADS Application June 22, 1954, Serial No. 438,416

3 Claims. (Cl. 2-171) This invention relates to an improved type of absorbent, fibrous perspiration pad for industrial, sports, or other use, and to the method of making the same.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a porous, absorbent perspiration pad adapted to be worn on the forehead or inside hat bands, helmets, and the like, to absorb excessive perspiration.

Another object of the invention is to provide such an absorbent, porous perspiration pad which will be comfortable for the wearer and attractive in appearance so that it may be worn by men and women when engaged in various sports, such as tennis, golf, skiing, and the like, without discomfort and without detraction from the personal appearance of the wearer.

Another object of the invention is to provide such porous, absorbent perspiration pads or sweatbands at such a low cost that they may be be discarded after being worn one or more times without undue expense to the wearer.

Another object of our invention is to provide a porous, absorbent sweatband which, although inexpensive to make, will have sufficient strength to resist substantial tearing strains and other rugged use without tearing and without destruction of its absorbent qualities.

Various other objects and advantages of our invention will appear as this description proceeds.

We have discovered that a loose, fibrous or felt-like body with or without reinforcing woven textiles can be formed into a porous, absorbent sweatband for use by industrial workers, in sports or for general use, which has new and improved features over sweatbands fabricated from other materials or by other methods.

In the manufacture of our improved sweatbands carded batts of textile fibers are formed into a homogeneous body consisting of intermingled thermoplastic binder fibers or admixtures of such thermoplastic fibers with non-binder fibers which have been specially selected or pre-treated for a high rate of moisture absorbency. The binder fibers may consist of synthetic or man-made fibers which, by reason of their thermoplastic properties, may be caused to fuse or partially fuse under application of heat and pressure. Such fibers may be extruded from resins or solutions of resins of plasticized cellulose acetate, copolymers of vinyl chloride and vinyl acetate, vinylidene chloride, polyethylene or other similar thermoplastic materials.

The percentage of thermoplastic fibers used may vary from fifteen to twenty percent of the carded batt to one hundred percent of its total and the percentage used regulates the stiffness and strength of the supporting areas of the sweatband after activation under heat and pres sure. When non-binder fibers are used these may be cotton, viscose, flax or other natural or man-made fibers which are preferably selected to have a high rate of perspiration absorbency. In addition to the carded batt of loose fibers, Woven covering layers of various textile materials, such as cheesecloth, terrycloth, or the like, may

tates Patnt 2 be provided. The carded batt or the covering layers may be dyed or colored to give a more attractive appearance.

The carded batt, with or without a covering layer or layers and including sufficient intermingled thermoplastic binder fibers to fuse and bind the edges of the sweatband together, is formed, into the final sweatband by subjecting certain edge areas of the batt to pressure between flat surfaces at the temperature necessary to cause the thermoplastic binder fibers to fuse to the proper density. Generally these temperatures fall within a range of 250 F. to 350 F. although they may be lower or higher depending on the fibers used.

The resulting sweatband has a loose, porous absorbent interior, with strong fused edges and ends. By virtue of the'fact that tthe fibers in the fused edge also extend into and connect with the porous interior, there is no tendency of the fused edge and the porous interior to separate even when the fibers are subjected to the weakening effect of perspiration, and the fused ends provide strong points for the attachment of fastening means for the sweatbands.

Referring now to the drawings which illustrate a typical form of construction, which may of course be varied according to width and length or contour depending on the requirements desired for the sweatband:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a completed sweatband.

Fig. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the porous center and the compressed and fused peripheral area of a sweatband made without the use of supporting woven cloth.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view in plan of the sweatband of Fig. 2 showing the use of a composite fibrous batt Without supporting Woven cloth, and showing the fused tab end punched for the attachment of a rubber headband.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view similar to Fig. 2 showing the use of a supporting cloth on the top and bottom of the sweatband.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view to show a composite of carded batt and supporting cloth as it is being subjected to pressing at the peripheral area and cut from the web. The section of the sweatband shown is approximately indicated by the section line 5-5 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing a sweatband according to our invention as it is normally worn.

In a preferred embodiment the sweatband was made from a carded batt consisting of twenty percent plasticized cellulose acetate and eighty percent of bleached cotton fibers. The carded batt was prepared in a loose, fluffy state and with a uniform structure weighing about six ounces per square yard. Before pressing, fusing and cutting the edges, a Woven fabric such as cheesecloth was used as a top and bottom covering for the loose carded batt. The above composition for the manufacture of our improved sweatbands may be varied in many ways and is given only for the purpose of better illustrating the practice of our invention.

A typical sweatband made by the process herein described is illustrated in Fig. 1. As here illustrated, the sweatband 1 consists of a loose, fibrous, absorbent carded batt center 2 and a fused edge supporting area 3 which extends all around the sweatband 1 and provides the integral end tabs 4 having perforations 5 into which a tie, cord or elastic band 6 may be secured to hold the sweatband on the forehead. The sweatband illustrated in Fig. 1 is provided with a cheesecloth reinforcing covering 7 on one or both sides, which is shown as partly broken away in the, upper portion of Fig. 1.

In this construction the. fibrous absorbent batt center 2 is integrally connected to the fused edge 3' around the manent composite and combined unit. means essential to use the woven fabric, it serves as a entire sweatband by virtue of the innumerable fibers which extend from the fused edge into the loose center of the sweatbaud. In this manner a stronger bond between the absorbent center 2 and the fused edge 3 is formed than can be formed by stitching, sewing, or the like, and the fused edge 3' forms a strong boundary which resists tearing and acts to trap the perspiration between the forehead of the wearer and the sweatband.

As illustrated in Fig. 6, due to the greater thickness of the loose absorbent center portion of. the sweatband, a space 8 is formed between the upper fused edge 3 of the sweatband and the forehead of the wearer, so that perspiration falling from the forehead is trapped in this space or channel and readily absorbed into the loose fibrous batt 2. The fibers in the fused edge extending into the loose center portion of the sweatband act as a wick to more rapidly convey the perspiration into the loose center portion. At the same time, both the upper and lower fused edges 3 are held spaced from the fore.- head by the thicker center portion 2 so that any pressure of a hard layer on the forehead is avoided, no discomfort is encountered, and no indentation or other marks remain on the forehead when the sweatband is removed no matter how tightly it is secured to the head.

Figs. 2 and 3 show a sweatband in which the loose absorbent carded batt center 2 is bounded by a fused edge 3, but in which no supporting cloth is used to form the outer layer of the sweatband.

Fig. 4 shows a construction similar to Fig. 1 having supporting cloth 7 which may be cheesecloth, toweling, terrycloth, or the like, used for both sides of the sweatband.

Fig. shows atypical cross-section of a pressing, fusing and cutting die used in the formation of our improved sweatband. The composite structure,- comprising the carded batt 2 and the cloth layer 7, is shown as it being subjected to heat and pressure between heated platens 9 and the fiat pressing bed 10 of the dies to form the fused peripheral area 3 including end tabs 4. The soft absorbent center batt 2 and the covering top and bottom cheesecloth 7 are drawn into the press area and subjected to a pressure of about 500 p. s. i. at a temperature of 300 F. for approximately twenty seconds. During the press cycle the cutting edge 11 of the die automatically cuts out the completed sweatbands from the carded web and, on release of the pressure and raising of the top platen 9 to which the dies are fastened, the entire skeleton of the batt together with the cut out sweatbands in multiple units may be moved forward so as to subject a new area of the composite starting material to the pressing and cutting cycle. While the formation of only one sweatband unit has been illustrated, it will he understood that multiple dies are used in production and a wide carded fibrous batt is fed to the die table to provide a large production of our improved sweatbands at a low cost.

The sweatband produced according to our invention as herein described has numerous advantages which make for considerable improvement over sweatbands produced from conventional materials and by conventional means. The simplicity of structure and fabrication eliminates any hand assembly, such as sewing or other assembly operation. As a consequence, the sweatband unit made by the process of this invention may be produced with considerable savings, permitting the article to fall within the category of a throw-away item after being used one or more times.

A feature of the invention is that the thermoplastic binder fiber content of the center portion, as represented by the loose, fibrous, absorbent carded batt, is sufiiciently adhesive when activated to fusing temperatures and pressure to hold the cheesecloth or other type of protecting or reinforcing fabric in place and thereby form a per- While it is by no reinforcement for the structure as well as to prevent any lint from the center absorbent fibers from coming into contact with the forehead during use.

A further feature of the sweatband as produced according to our invention is that the underside of the center of the unit presents a soft surface which becomes the contact area to the forehead when worn. This characteristic, together with the narrow and thinly pressed portion of the periphery, makes an ideal contact with the forehead and improves considerably the pickup of profuse perspiration which normally occurs in certain occupational and sports activities at elevated temperatures or with extreme exertion.

Another important feature of the sweatband is that the fused tab area, especially when reinforcing cheesecloth is used in the assembly, is of a high tensile strength and will resist any tearing out under normal use of the elastic band or other securing means which is fastened in the punched hole automatically provided for this purpose. The same strength feature permits the use of snap fasteners as well in the tab area for making adjustable head sizes and when produced as described herein there is no chance of failure of the fastening means or of the sweatband once it has been properly produced.

All of these features provide an absorbent sweatband having low cost, high strength, high perspiration absorbency, comfort and generally improved clearance and other characteristics over other commercial types of materials.

While We have described several preferred embodiments of our invention, it will be understood that other embodiments may be produced and that various changes may be made in the embodiments described without departing from the spirit of our invention or the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. As a product of manufacture, a perspiration pad of elongated rectangular shape, adapted to be worn on the forehead, having a loose, fibrous, absorbent center portion composed of carded textile fibers containing suffi cient thermoplastic fibers to fuse all the fibers together when heated to the fusion temperature for the thermoplastic fibers, a woven fabric layer over said loose center portion, a fused edge around the entire periphery of said center portion, fibers extending from said fused edge into said loose center portion and integral fused securing tabs at each end of said pad, said fused edge and securing tabs being formed by fusing the fibers and the fabric layer together around the periphery of said pad.

2. As a product of manufacture, a perspiration pad of elongated rectangular shape having a loose, fibrous, absorbent center portion composed of carded textile fibers, containing sufiicient thermoplastic material therein to fuse all the fibers together when heated to the fusion temperature of the thermoplastic material and a fused compressed supporting area around the entire periphery of said loose absorbent center portion composed of said fibers fused together, said fused area being defined by upper and lower edges merging into fused securing tabs at each end of said perspiration pad, fibers extending from said fused compressed edge into the loose center portion integrally connecting said center portion with said fused compressed edge and said fused securing tabs, said securing tabs being integrally connected with said fused edge and said loose center portion.

3. As a product of manufacture, a perspiration pad of elongated rectangular shape, adapted to be worn on the forehead, having a loose, fibrous, absorbent center portion composed of carded textile fibers containing sulficient thermoplastic fibers to fuse all the fibers together when heated to the fusion temperature for the thermoplastic fibers, a fused edge around the entire periphery of said center portionmerging into integrally fused securing tabs atfeach end of said perspiration pad, fibers extending from said fused edge into said loose center portion, said fused edge and securing tabs being formed by fusing the fibers together around the periphery of said pad.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,697,919 Knepper Ian. 8, 1929 I 6 McNutt Dec. 3, 1935 Fourness et al Apr. 7, 1936 Huntington Aug. 18, 1936 Sterne Nov. 26, 1940 Fourness et al Sept. 8, 1942 Lang et al Sept. 12, 1950 Lippmann Mar. 13, 1951 

